Had an unusual amount of time to myself this weekend, and found that I was thinking about a few things on a kind of loop. Hope you don’t mind if I share them with you.

A student of mine at the college is dating a former student of mine. He, the former student, spent the couple years I worked with him estranged from his parents. He had begun to reconcile things with them, and was beginning to rebuild their relationship when his dad died suddenly of a massive heart attack. This was a year ago; his dad was 49. Last week she, the current student, called to cancel her lesson; good friends of theirs had lost their dad — he died of an aneurysm in his sleep. He was 49. I’m 45, my husband is 52. We’ve only been together for a few years, and wish we had a lifetime. I guess whatever we have left would be a “lifetime,” but we’d like at least 30 — years, that is. These stories frighten me.

I spent most of yesterday cleaning the house. Really good cleaning — bathroom, dusting, sweeping, mopping, cleaning the glass surfaces, doing all the laundry, etc. etc. Two observations. 1. I really like a clean house, but I don’t particularly enjoy doing it. This sucks, as I am also morally opposed to paying someone else to clean up after me. If anyone can see a solution, I’m willing to consider it. 2. There are too many people in this house losing too much of their hair. I’m surprised we have any on our heads at all.

I sat on the front porch at the end of the day and listened to the bugs buzz. The moon has been full and beautiful the past few days. It hung there like a plate, hazy behind the clouds. It was terribly windy on Friday and one of my huge and overgrown oak trees fell across the road. Luckily no one was driving past at the time, nor was there anyone on the bike path. I heard the crunch and splinter as it fell, followed by a surprisingly muffled THUD; I knew what it was before I even looked. Despite the complete absence of any danger or injury my hands shook for about 10 minutes afterward. I looked down at the huge trunk lying along the driveway, watched the people from down the road come and collect branches and firewood from across the street, thought again about how close to the line we all are.

This is my yard. It’s a beautiful place most of the time. (Except when it’s windy — I guess it’s still beautiful, but your concerns for your safety seem to trump any appreciation of the scenery.)

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1 Response to “A day for introspection”

You say:
1. I really like a clean house, but I don’t particularly enjoy doing it.
2. There are too many people in this house losing too much of their hair.

I agree 100%! and the obvious link between them – why is hair so hard to clean out of the bathroom? It somehow remains behind on every surface I wipe.
…and when will my long-haired 25 year old son leave home?